Anniversary of the Ashton Gate eight

[Jerseybean]

On February 3rd 1982, eight players selflessly tore up their contracts to save the club from financial ruin – an act which will never be forgotten. 

We were just minutes away from folding with the club set to cease trading at midday.

There was seemingly only one way out of the hole: the club would be declared bankrupt, a new club would be formed under a new board and the players who were on long-term deals would be asked to tear up their contracts.

Without these measures, the club would no longer exist.

Enter the Ashton Gate Eight:

Geoff Merrick, Chris Garland, Trevor Tainton, David Rodgers, Gerry Sweeney, Jimmy Mann, Peter Aitken and Julian Marshall were given the ultimate ultimatum.

Either they agreed to have their contracts terminated or the club would fold.

Those eight selfless men are the reason the club is still thriving more than 40 years on.

[Dollymarie]

Have heard they’re back at Ashton Gate next weekend, as it’s the game closest to the anniversary 

[Jerseybean]

Interesting reflections here: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/bristol-city-ashton-gate-eight-6590914

[AshtonGreat]

Wasn’t the anniversary last year?

[SinéadB]

19 minutes ago, AshtonGreat said:

Wasn’t the anniversary last year?

Tbf think the anniversary is every year 

[joe jordans teeth]

1 hour ago, Jerseybean said:

On February 3rd 1982, eight players selflessly tore up their contracts to save the club from financial ruin – an act which will never be forgotten. 

We were just minutes away from folding with the club set to cease trading at midday.

There was seemingly only one way out of the hole: the club would be declared bankrupt, a new club would be formed under a new board and the players who were on long-term deals would be asked to tear up their contracts.

Without these measures, the club would no longer exist.

Enter the Ashton Gate Eight:

Geoff Merrick, Chris Garland, Trevor Tainton, David Rodgers, Gerry Sweeney, Jimmy Mann, Peter Aitken and Julian Marshall were given the ultimate ultimatum.

Either they agreed to have their contracts terminated or the club would fold.

Those eight selfless men are the reason the club is still thriving more than 40 years on.

Nothing has changed after all these years,players paid to much at that time just as now

[AshtonGreat]

25 minutes ago, SinéadB said:

Tbf think the anniversary is every year 

Yes I suppose you’re right :laugh:

[Mr Popodopolous]

6 hours ago, joe jordans teeth said:

Nothing has changed after all these years,players paid to much at that time just as now

Yea, I came across an interesting YouTube cut across 2 documentaries which I shall post.

One of the lines then was that football couldn't take the wages being paid! The wages sounded like peanuts compared to now even for top level players, even factoring in generalised inflation or wage growth.

Would lobe to know, maybe I'll research it a combination of:

*The average UK wage

*The average Football League ticket price

*The average Football League wage

*The average Football League season ticket price.

*Now you have PL too.

Then v now, say 1982 v 2022.

Edited February 4, 2023 by Mr Popodopolous

[Mr Popodopolous]

For those who are interested.

[mattjb]

6 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

For those who are interested.

“ can you explain to me why it’s necessary to have a pair of Bristol Citys “ !

[Open End Numb Legs]

I don't remember Clive Whitehead being a left back! He was right wing when I watched him?

About the contracts - surely the answer was to write into them salaries based on whichever division we were in at any time. Does that happen today?

[handsofclay]

Clive Whitehead eventually went to WBA as a left back.

I am probably in the minority here with the view I am about to express.

Don't get me wrong, some of those Eight players deserve adulation for their contribution in gaining promotion to the top flight and then keeping us there for four seasons. However, they stayed too long. The team wasn't refreshed and the panic over the Collier freedom of contract move prompted the ridiculous knee jerk reaction of offering ludicrously long contracts to players, some of whom were already on the downward slide. 

I don't blame the players for accepting those contracts. But it has to be remembered that their performances contributed to City's downward spiral from 1980. 

I hear terms like they 'selflessly tore up their contracts to save the club,' but their contracts were with what would have become a bankrupt company. They were worth diddly squat. I believe the creditors of the company, which they would then have become, received 5p for every pound they were owed. Meaning, effectively, that players that had three years left on their contract would have received about six weeks wages had they not been torn up.

By tearing up their contracts they were offered assistance by the PFA and the proceeds of a testimonial game. But it also meant, rightly or wrongly, they then wouldn't be blamed for killing off Bristol City. Either way they were greatly out of pocket but one route offered the chance not to be blamed by supporters.

It was a horrid time. Eight men didn't have a dream they had a bloody nightmare. It must've been awful for them. I have every respect for them but I don't buy into how history has now mythologised the story and made it fit a narrative of selfless devotion to a club by eight of its players.

This is how the story is sold now. But this wasn't the case. Let's look at how the players were regarded at the time in 1982. I mentioned a testimonial match played for them by two top flight clubs at Ashton Gate (Ipswich and Southampton). Surely with such selfless devotion the City fans at the time would've packed the ground to the rafters to show their appreciation. But no, the attendance was something paltry like 2,500. That fact would not fit the narrative this story has adopted now.

Plus, none of the eight players, despite becoming free agents, were taken on by clubs at a higher level. Indeed, only one, Jimmy Mann, was taken on by a club at a similar level in the football league.

Please, again, don't get me wrong, I admire most of those players for their earlier contributions to the club on the pitch and I feel for what they had to go through in making the decision they did. But I felt at the time, and subsequently, that they had little option but to do anything else and I certainly don't buy into the narrative that they were heroes for making that decision.

 

 

[Open End Numb Legs]

A well thought out post, thanks.

I think financially or contractually you are probably right.

The reason they are held in such regard is obviously the emotional attachment. I was a boy back then and they were my heroes, still are.

The bad times were painful and it was no surprise the crowds fell away. It happens partly because a minority of people were only there to see the big teams visit but I can honestly say that like most we went to see City play and win. The pain of continuous defeat was what I remember.

I read on here that some of you occasionally bump into the likes of Geoff Merrick. I used to hang over the railings at the front of the enclosure in wonder at his left foot pass or leap height, or Tainton's vision to find Whitehead out wide or a Gerry Gow crunching tackle that would make my Dad roar. Those are the memories that stick rather than the upset and confusion of what went on with the contracts.

[Mr Popodopolous]

3 hours ago, Open End Numb Legs said:

A well thought out post, thanks.

I think financially or contractually you are probably right.

The reason they are held in such regard is obviously the emotional attachment. I was a boy back then and they were my heroes, still are.

The bad times were painful and it was no surprise the crowds fell away. It happens partly because a minority of people were only there to see the big teams visit but I can honestly say that like most we went to see City play and win. The pain of continuous defeat was what I remember.

I read on here that some of you occasionally bump into the likes of Geoff Merrick. I used to hang over the railings at the front of the enclosure in wonder at his left foot pass or leap height, or Tainton's vision to find Whitehead out wide or a Gerry Gow crunching tackle that would make my Dad roar. Those are the memories that stick rather than the upset and confusion of what went on with the contracts.

Host of reasons why crowds fell surely.

On pitch considerations- two relegations followed by a third year of struggle.

Economic climate was difficult or choppy.

The whole hooligan issue.

Perfect storm and the worst possible time to get relegated- attendances were down at many clubs from eaely to mid 1980s, the sharp decline on the pitch only compounded it.